Synthesis of 2,3-dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones catalyzed by α-chymotrypsin

We discovered that a-chymotrypsin has a promiscuous ability to catalyze the cyclocondensation of aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes with 2-aminobenzamides to afford the corresponding 2,3dihydroquinazolin-4(1H)-ones successfully in high yields (90%-98%) under alcohol solvent. The catalytic activity of a-chymotrypsin was evaluated through investigating the temperature, the enzyme loading and the ratio of substrates in the enzyme-catalyzed reactions. The present method proves to be efficient and environmentally friendly in terms of short reaction time, high yield, green catalyst and the clean products obtained without further purification processes. (C) 2016 Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.